Chris, I spend a lot of time reading medical literature, including some
neuroscience. I agree fully with you that there is nothing more boring
than reading a textbook. Textbook writers, though scolarly, tend to be
very conservative, and geezers, if not in physical age, certainly in
emotional age. I search and read the National Libary of Medicine a lot
when I want to persue a medical answer to a question, and I enjoy it.
That URL is:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?CMD=Search&DB=PubMed, a
search on Methylphenidate reveals some 3000+ articles published about
that drug. To master all of this, you need a didactic organized,
classroom series of events, i.e. a medical education. However you won't
lose anything and you might gain a lot by plunging ahead on your own
right now.
If you want to e-mail me directly about this, go ahead. If you want to
respond on either of these NGs go ahead.
Good Luck, to probably one of the younger premeds around.
Kent
Chris Brunner wrote:
>> Hello people,
> I am a student in high school who has always found an interest in
> neuroscience. Basically, my problem is that the only books I can find on
> the subject are textbooks. I am looking for some kind of book that serves
> as an introduction, ideally a thorough one, to neuroscience that is not a
> textbook. If anyone knows of such a book, their recommendation of it
> would be tremendously appreciated! If no one knows of such a book, then
> any other recommendation (of books on this subject that I may be able to
> read) would be just as helpful. I know that many people reading this post
> will think it is be insane for me to expect to be able to read something
> like this, but I'd like to encourage these people to ignore that and help
> me find a book. =] I'm willing to read something ridiculously long. I'm
> willing to have to do research in order to understand what the book is
> talking about. I'd just like a place to start.
>> If anyone cares for a reason why I'm asking, keep reading. Else, there's
> no reason to waste your time, so you'll probably want to either go ahead
> and post a reading recommendation or move on to another post.
>> I was prescribed by a physician Methylphenidate when about six-years-old.
> It blew my mind that a pill could alter my brain's function in such a
> major way, and I kept asking my physician for answers as to how it works,
> but the most I could get at that age was the doctor's drawing on a pad of
> paper of how she said it worked. That sufficed at the time to make the
> realize that the explanation was more than I could understand, at that
> point at least. To make a very long story short, I've been interested in
> how these things work since then. I've looked for as much information as
> I can find regarding how exactly drugs like dextroamphetamine work, but I
> accept now that I'll never understand until I have a much better knowledge
> of neurology as whole. So... that's my goal now: To learn enough until I
> understand the dopamine neurotransmitter and what effects amphetamine-like
> stimulants have on it. The reason that I've posted to Usenet is that I
> can't think of a better way of finding a way to find this information than
> by asking people who have learned these things. So, to get back to my
> point, if anyone thinks they know of a way for me to get started, please
> tell me what I can read. Your input, whether in regard to books or not,
> will not go unappreciated!
>> Thanks in advance everyone!
> Chris Brunner
>> PS: If anyone knows of a better place to post this, please let me know.
> PSS: Email is more likely to received by me if "newsaddy" is replaced
> with "chris"